Queen Victoria Academy
The Queen Victoria Academy, short named QVA, is a public boarding school near London, England. It is located by Uxbridge, within the Colne Valley Regional Park. The school’s history goes back over a hundred years and is said to be one of the best boarding schools worldwide, concerning their education, student programs, location and teaching methods. Many influencing households have put their kids into the trusting hands of the QVA staff, never been disappointed with their choice. The old castle, Augustus Castle, was built during 1400; being renovated multiple times ever since. The rose garden on the castle’s grounds is one of the favourite places to be for students and visitors. Within the school, a uniform is obligatory, being white and blue; with the school’s emblem in gold. The girls wear a blouse, skirt and stockings, the guys suit, tie and a pair of braces. The QVA is open to everyone from age 10 to 18, covering the classes five to twelve, assisting their students up to their A-Levels. Most graduates from QVA study at the elite universities in England, naming Oxford, Cambridge, University of London, or the University of Manchester. The school is oriented in design at the Arundel Castle in the South of England. Its exterior and interior were more or less adapted in the books. For most of the time, the QVA is the main location in the books. As it is a boarding school, the kids' life surrounds their school very much. Within the third book, 'Have you heard of Jennifer Hayes?' Jennifer explains the strategy and classes of the school in detail. Main Subjects The main subjects are Politics, Maths and English. The high emphasis on Politics is a unique feature for the school, as pointed out by Harvey Nye Henderson, who says he was admitted to QVA but yet couldn't resume any higher to tenth grade, as his former school did not have the emphasis on Politics. Therefore, he was missing out too much detail in the eyes of QVA. All of those three subjects are obligatory from the fifth to the twelfth grade, hence through all their school life. Obligatory classes Additional obligatory classes from fifth grade on include P.E., Arts and Music. Yet, as Jennifer explains, those classes are not graded, as the school beliefs those are based on talent, and hence it wouldn't be fair for students to grade them. The idea came from the author herself, as she claimed to have received terrible grades in P.E. for most of her school life, as she simply wasn't sporty and that students who played sports outside of school, constantly had an advantage compared to those who rather participated in arts outside of school. Yet, if voluntarily decided, students can major in those subjects in tenth grade, and then decide they will be graded. From eighth grade on, three additional classes are added, namely Biology, Physics and Chemistry. They are yet all managed within one block. From September to Christmas students have Biology, from Christmas to March it is Physics and from March to May it is Chemistry. The final exam in May covers all three subjects. In tenth grade, Economics and Culture are added. Students can major in two additional subjects apart from Politics, Maths and English. Examples of majoring subjects of QVA students are: # Theodore Margravine majored in PME (Politics, Maths, English), Biology and P.E. # Steven Smith majored in PME, Chemistry and Physics. # Amelie Anevay majored in PME, Culture and Arts. # Jennifer Hayes will major in PME, Economics and Culture. # Katie Smith majored in PME, Chemistry and Economics. # Jacob Margravine majored in PME, P.E. and Economics. # Harvey Nye Henderson will major in PME, Music and Economics. Exams Exams at QVA are separated in two periods: Christmas Exams and Final Exams. The Christmas Exams only consist of three exams in the main subjects Politics, Maths and English. Those take place in the last week before Christmas break. The final exams take place in May and cover all the subjects apart from P.E., Music and Arts. School Day QVA School Day starts at 7.50 in the morning. This is aligned with the school day of the author. After that, there are three subjects with each five-minute breaks between them to change classrooms if necessary. The first break is at 10.15 and lasts until 10.45. Then there are again three subjects. The Lunch Break lasts from 13.00 to 14.00. In the afternoon it is only one more subject for tenth grades, but older students also have Economics and Culture, hence three more subjects after 14.00. Teachers The headmaster is Mrs Juliet Hamilton. She herself is not a teacher of any other particular subject. It is not mentioned which teachers actually live on the castle apart from Mr Walter Joghouch and Mrs Juliet Hamilton. Yet, it can be assumed, that at least teachers who teach more than one subject indeed do live on the castle. Structure The castle is structured into five different floors. It will briefly be described what each floor comprises. Ground Floor The ground floor is known for the following locations: The dining hall, one common room, the library, the entrance hall, the balcony out to the gardens, the rose garden, the yard, the fountain, Mr Joghouch's room, the teachers' lounge. First Floor The first floor is mostly used for the school. Here mixed lavatories can be found, the art classroom, the music classroom, an always closed balcony (mentioned by Katie Smith during their came of Hide & Seek in '25 Days of Katie Smith') the first floor of the library, the headmasters' office and chambers, and two additional classrooms. Second Floor The second floor is reserved for students only. Two bathrooms are right next to the staircase on each side (boys left, girls right). On the boys' side, the rooms have a more direct order and start from two rooms for the tenth grade down to two for the ninth, eighth and seventh respectively. On the girls' side, however, the ninth and seventh grade can be found looking out to the woods, and the tenth and eighth classes look out onto the castle grounds. Third Floor The third floor is solely used for classes. It is comprised of eight classrooms, two lavatories (for boys and girls respectively) and one common room. Fourth Floor While students only move their rooms when a new school year begins, they move floors from sixth to seventh class and from tenth to eleventh. In the same order as downstairs, the rooms for fifth, sixth, eleventh and twelfth graders are on the fourth floor, as well as lavatories for boys and girls. Fifth Floor The fifth and final floor is usually not often visited by students. It has four additional rooms for teachers, the nursery, two lavatories, the observatory and one big balcony. The only students we ever see visiting the fifth floor by choice are Katie Smith (to find a good hiding place), Amelie and Theo (as they hide in the observatory and when Theo has his birthday party there), and Jennifer and Harvey (as they visit the balcony). School Uniform The School Uniform is described multiple times during the books. For girls, it comprises of a skirt in navy blue colour (the colour is used on the cover of 'The Diary of Amelie Anevay'), high knee socks, a jacket in navy blue, a shirt and a tie. The skirt has braces. For boys, it is navy blue trousers (no jeans), a shirt, tie and jacket. The trousers also have braces. The school's crest is printed in golden colour on tie and jacket. It consists of the school's letters Q V A and a crown.